Retired Gen. David Petraeus is reportedly facing a possible retroactive demotion:
US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter is reportedly mulling personally demoting retired four-star general David Petraeus for disclosing classified data. The former US commander in Iraq and CIA Director would then be liable to return hundreds of thousands of dollars of his pension. The ongoing deliberations were confirmed to The Daily Beast by three senior Pentagon officials.
Petraeus, once considered a war hero for the successful US troop surge in Iraq in 2007 and 2008, and even a potential Republican presidential candidate, is currently on a two-year probation, and has paid a fine of $100,000 for unauthorized handling of classified information. Last year, he pleaded guilty to supplying eight notebooks chock-full of state secrets to Paula Broadwell, his biographer, with whom he had an affair.
Petraeus’ crime was sharing classified information with his biographer Paula Broadwell. The FBI found classified material on her computer.
No one has suggested that the classified information on Broadwell’s computer was top secret or of a higher level, such as a Special Access Program.
8-100 Policy
It is the policy of the Department of Defense to use the security classification categories and the applicable sections of E.O. 12958 and its implementing ISOO Directives to limit access to classified information on a “need-to-know” basis only to those personnel who have been determined to meet requisite personnel security requirements. Further, it is DoD policy to rigorously apply the need-to-know principle in the normal course of controlling collateral classified information so that Special Access Program (SAP) controls will be used only when exceptional security measures are required based on threat and/or vulnerability (e.g. sensitivity or value of the information) associated with the SAP. Need-to-know principles shall also be applied within SAPs. In this context, SAPs may be created or continued only on a specific finding that:
a. The vulnerability of, or threat to, the specific information to be protected is exceptional;
b. Normal criteria for determining access to the assigned level of classification are not sufficient to protect the information from unauthorized disclosure;
c. Careful consideration is given to: assessing the vulnerability, the sensitivity of the information to be protected, and the adequacy of needed safeguarding requirements; and/or
d. The establishment of the SAP is required by statute.
You know, like were on Hillary’s server.
In this, Hillary’s actions mimic both Petraeus and Broadwell. Hillary, like Broadwell, stored classified information on her computer. Not just classified, but above Top Secret. Broadwell lost a promotion and was stripped of her security clearance. Petraeus received two years’ probation, paid a $100,000 fine. And his career is toast.
Curiously, Broadwell remains under investigation.
In response to Observer questions about the Post account, U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose described the Pentagon probe differently. She said Army officials involved in the case say no decision has been made about military punishment for Petraeus and Broadwell, and that the Army’s investigation of Broadwell, an Army reservist, continues.
I cannot help but wonder if a decision on Broadwell is being delayed because of the discovery of classified information on Hillary Clinton’s non-secure server. Both committed the same acts. Both the former Deputy Director of the CIA and a former Secretary of Defense agree that it’s highly likely Clinton’s server was compromised. Interestingly, a Huma Abedin email revealed that Clinton refused to use a secure government Blackberry because what passed through it would be subject to FOIA requests.
Clinton has once again resorted to her asinine defense:
“As the State Department has confirmed, I never sent or received any material marked classified, and that hasn’t changed in all of these months,” she maintained. “This, seems to me, to be, you know, another effort to inject this into the campaign. It’s another leak.”
Clinton has been consistently disingenuous about her email scandal. What I am finding exasperating is the absolute failure to ask the right question. Clinton keeps repeating:
“I’m just going to leave it up to the professionals at the Justice Department, because nothing that this says changes the fact that I never sent or received material marked classified.”
The Clinton’s are masters of the parse. The information on her server IS and WAS classified. The proper questions?
1. How did this material get onto her server?
As we’ve noted before, there is no direct line from either the DoD or State to Hillary’s server, or anywhere else outside of the government.
2. Someone had to take the classified information from the State intranet, copy it and then deliver it to Clinton’s server. Who?
Let’s not forget that Clinton sent a cable to State employees that said:
“avoid conducting official department business from your personal e-mail accounts.”
We know that Clinton has a history of instructing aides to alter classified documents and strip security headings. All of this leads me to wonder if she didn’t intentionally make the information vulnerable in return for speaking fees and contributions to the Clinton Foundation.
UPDATE: At Least One Hillary Email Contained Info From Clandestine Operations
According to Fox’s Catherine Herridge, two sources familiar with the investigation of Clinton’s private server say that at least one email contained what’s known as “HCS-O” information. That is an intelligence agency code for “HUMINT Control System Operations,” which refers to on-the-ground spy operations.
“The HSC-O compartment (Operations) is used to protect exceptionally fragile and unique IC (intelligence community) clandestine HUMINT operations and methods that are not intended for dissemination outside of the originating agency,” reads a memo released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in December 2013.
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 30 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 30 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter on her way into the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.